Prop. 8 plaintiffs will share time with Obama administration

The Obama administration has more to tell the U.S. Supreme Court about why same-sex marriage should be legal in California.

The court is scheduled to hear an hour of arguments March 26 on Proposition 8, the 2008 initiative that defined marriage to include only opposite-sex couples. Out of the 30 minutes allotted to opponents of Prop. 8, 20 minutes will go to Theodore Olson, the onetime Republican Justice Department lawyer representing gay and lesbian couples who sued for the right to marry. They’ve agreed to leave the other 10 minutes to President Obama’s Justice Department, which asked to take part in the argument.

The Justice Department filed a brief Feb. 28 arguing that Prop. 8 violates same-sex couples’ right to equal protection of the law by denying them marital status while leaving them free to enter domestic partnerships. That argument would apply to seven other states with similar laws, but the department also said all laws that discriminate against gays and lesbians should be subject to the same demanding constitutional standard as sex discrimination. If the court agreed, it could invalidate laws in all 41 states that ban same-sex marriage.

In an application to the court to take part in the hearing, the Justice Department noted that it plans to make a similar constitutional argument March 27 when the justices examine the law known as the Defense of Marriage Act, which denies federal benefits to legally married same-sex couples. Participation in the Prop. 8 case “will provide the court with the government’s unique perspective,” Solicitor General Donald Verrilli told the justices, who generally grant such requests.